Well today I started with the revival. Back in November things were so weird in my life I just parked the old girl and didn't think much about her with exception to selling the aluminum wheels as I planned to go to 19.5's (which I no longer have). So this is how it sat behind my shop.

And my neglect of the truck had included a total forgetting that she was full of water, not antifreeze, so I found the upper radiator hose had popped off. I hoped this was the extent of the damage, and fingers crossed I hooked it back up.

With a set of fresh used batteries the old cummins cranked right over and fired immediately. Pulling into the shop I topped off the radiator and let it idle 20 minutes or so. No leaking, so I think I got lucky, whew!

Getting to work, I peeled off all the Route 55 stickers. It was kinda sad and freeing at the same time, seeing the last reality of my little company go away.

Today I tore into the rear brakes. The shoes had disentegrated. Being lifetime Autozone ones I swapped them out. Also fiberglassed a small portion of the inside of the drivers side bed panel where it had rusted from the brace for the dually flare.

Also restickered the truck in ABC Home and Commercial Services labels and DOT numbers.

Also got in six new 235/85/16 tires. I had previously sold the Aluminum rims as I planned to go to 19.5's but had sold those, so I only had 4 steel wheels. A friend brought over two more and we mounted them up. Well, one of the wheels had too large of a bore, so it must have either been from a Ford or first gen Dodge so I had to order up one more wheel.

Alright. So the truck has been set up with equipment and I went out and used it a day. She started blowing white smoke, running like crap, so I limped it back to my shop. Knowing the head gasket was leaking at the front, that was the first order of business.

I found it fairly straightforward and easy to remove the head with a cherry picker.

And the gasket was blown where expected. However nowhere was it blown in a way that could cause white smoke and the running issues.
New gasket anyways

And after everything was buckled up, it ran the same

Using the google machine, it seems I may have slipped timing or have a bad ofv. Tomorrow is anudder day!

Swapping out the OFV did nothing. And after much head scratching and net research I figured out how to check both the engine and injection pump timing. Both were spot on. At one point I had other coworkers and gearheads over, with a total of four heads under the hood of the truck. And after 3-4 hours of tinkering and such, nothing. We were about to give up and tow it to a shop so everyone left. I went to lunch to blow off some steam.

My buddy Jason calls and asks " have you cleaned out the fuel heater?" I respond with "The what?" So after some over the phone description I locate it next to the fuel pump. It is a black bowl looking thing that unscrews from the bottom of it, like an old tractor.

And this is what I found. Uck!

It was absolutely packed with brown gunk!

Half a can of brake cleaner and a new fuel filter for good measure I pumped it up, started it, and took it for a drive. Voila! More power than I've had in a long time!

Evidently the reason number one and two cylinders were not firing is they were starved for fuel as they are the last two to be fed via the inline injection pump!

^ Did this guy, with 6 posts on here, just spam my thread with an ad vaguely disguised as involvement? I use Tapatalk and it's got an ad tagged with his post (and it is on a couple other threads he commented on in the same way)

^ Did this guy, with 6 posts on here, just spam my thread with an ad vaguely disguised as involvement? I use Tapatalk and it's got an ad tagged with his post (and it is on a couple other threads he commented on in the same way)

Yes, I also noticed he die the same thing in Mr Beefys Dakota thread...

Ran the truck all day, about 150 miles for work yesterday and she ran like a dream! Even accidentally squacked the tires a few times while shifting, with a couple hundred gallons of chemical in the tank over the rear wheels!

So my family's company has been numbering trucks for years. Starting at number one they have kept them numeric since. Although this is my truck, we still needed to number it for routing and record purposes. So I went to the operations manager for my number. "Where are we in sequence" I asked. To which the response was "Your truck is number 55".

So today I was called out to go pick up a skunk in one of our traps. I have been doing this off and on for 19 years and have literally trapped hundreds of skunks.

The operation is simple if you get a skunk in a non-skunk trap. Approach the trap quickly and throw a blanket or tarp over it. Supposedly a skunk will not spray what it cannot see. This has always worked for me and I've never had a problem.

Well today my luck ran out. First off the skunk was in one of our large animal traps, which do not fit in the back of my truck with all my gear and equipment. No biggie, I'll just wrap the cage with a blanket and throw him in the passenger seat. Once again, I've done this many times with no issue.

Blanket over trap....check!

Pick up cage.............check!

Put cage in truck.....check.....wait, what is that smell? Crap!!!

And I had the awesome priviledge of riding around with that smell for the next 12 hours.

So today I was called out to go pick up a skunk in one of our traps. I have been doing this off and on for 19 years and have literally trapped hundreds of skunks.

The operation is simple if you get a skunk in a non-skunk trap. Approach the trap quickly and throw a blanket or tarp over it. Supposedly a skunk will not spray what it cannot see. This has always worked for me and I've never had a problem.

Well today my luck ran out. First off the skunk was in one of our large animal traps, which do not fit in the back of my truck with all my gear and equipment. No biggie, I'll just wrap the cage with a blanket and throw him in the passenger seat. Once again, I've done this many times with no issue.

Blanket over trap....check!

Pick up cage.............check!

Put cage in truck.....check.....wait, what is that smell? Crap!!!

And I had the awesome priviledge of riding around with that smell for the next 12 hours.